Fossil Ridge senior Dalton Riba wrestling with emotions

Dad's cancer puts life in perspective for Riba.

Feb. 26, 2013

Fossil Ridge 170-pounder Dalton Riba, shown here in a Feb. 2 match, has been more than just wrestling opponents this season; he's been wrestling with emotions since his father was diagnosed with cancer in August. / Rich Abrahamson/The Coloradoan

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Much more than even the stress of wrestling at the Class 5A State Wrestling Championships this past weekend at the Pepsi Center in Denver. In fact, that competition took a little load off Riba, a senior who placed at the state tournament for the first time, taking sixth.

His dad, Mike, was there watching as his Dalton wrestled his final match as a member of the Fossil Ridge team. That helped, too.

In the past, Mike never missed an opportunity to see his son compete, Dalton’s mom Jackie said in a phone interview.

That all changed when Mike was diagnosed with cancer in August. Since then, Mike hasn’t been able to attend many of Dalton’s football games (too cold) or wrestling duals (Mike was hospitalized).

“Before, when I lost or won, my dad would be right by my side — mat side — right there waiting for me,” Dalton said after losing his semifinal match Friday night. “It’s just, since this has happened, I lose and then look to my left and my right and no one’s there.”

After two rounds of chemotherapy and 24 radiation treatments, Mike is undergoing clinical trials at the University of Colorado’s Anchutz Medical Center.

The technical description of his cancer is high-grade, undifferentiated sarcoma, a rare sarcoma cancer that accounts for just 1 percent of the cancer diagnoses in the United States each year. In short, doctors found a tumor in Mike’s right hip. The cancer has since spread to his lungs.

One small miracle is the way Dalton has handled the stress. Dalton said his dad inspires him. Jackie said that’s because of Mike’s positive attitude.

“His dad has a really great attitude about having cancer,” Jackie said. “He doesn’t say, ‘Why me?’ He just says, ‘This is the hand we’ve been dealt, and we’ll deal with it,’ and go on from there.”

Even after his semifinals loss, Dalton was happy to talk about the way his dad inspires him.

“He’s been fighting (the cancer) and he’s just a big inspiration for me,” Dalton said. “He’s always been in my corner and it’s kind of a switch of roles, I’m in his corner now.”

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Jackie said the family, which includes Dalton’s older sisters Aubrie and Kirsti, will fight the cancer with everything they have. But they’ll remain positive in the process.

That positive outlook has its genesis in the family’s new-found perspective, Jackie said.

It also helps, Jackie said, that Dalton has the best support network of her three kids thanks to close friends and the Fossil Ridge wrestling team.

Dalton’s coach, Brian Killion, has seen firsthand the positive influence Mike’s attitude has had on Dalton.

“In wrestling, it takes a lot of focus,” Killion said. “When you’ve got that going on at home, I think that was a strain on Dalton. And that’s a tribute to what kind of kid he is, the way he handled it.”

Killion should know. His dad died of cancer when he was 13.

“Everybody always says, ‘Hey, I know what you’re going through,’ ” Killion said. “This time I can. I can tell him I know what he’s going through. It’s tough. Your dads are your best friends — guys you look up to.”

Jackie said having Killion to lean on was huge for Dalton.

After Dalton’s quarterfinals win, Killion wasn’t in the mood to analyze technique. Asked what he thought of the match, Killion replied, “Emotional. Special.”

Killion’s eyes were glassy.

They weren’t Saturday, when he pondered a question about Dalton’s positive attitude.

“That is Dalton,” Killion said, smiling. “That’s one thing about Dalton, he always has a smile on his face and always stays positive. And that’s why he got a medal down here. That’s why he’s been able to get through it and be where he is right now, because of his attitude and that’s just the kind of man he is.”